


Found Love in a Club

by Writingfangirlforhire



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, F/M, Fem!Ron
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:02:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4334861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writingfangirlforhire/pseuds/Writingfangirlforhire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Veronica Weasley didn't like her set life as future CEO of Weasley Toy Company. So she did something about it.<br/>Draco Malfoy just wanted his friends to choose where they were going. So they went to a club.<br/>He wondered who the Stripper was. He found out.<br/>Then began the beginning of a beautiful relationship that could very well pull Veronica (Ron) back into the world she escaped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Escape

Weasley Toy Company was a family business. Percy ran the factory in Germany, Charlie ran the Factory in England, Bill- with assistance from his mother, Molly- ran the public division, Arthur owned and ran the whole company, Molly- along with helping with the public division- was the one who came up with sale jingles and sayings and tunes, Fred and George were the toy makers- their passion was for the practical jokes division but they were good at thinking up regular toys too- and main business advisors, and Ginny was the face of WTC. Only Veronica had been left, and she had been a CEO and Business Treasurer in training.  
“Had” and “been” being the key words. 

But before we get to that, lets talk about MI.  
Malfoy Industries was WTC's main competitor. They specialized in video games, electronic devices, and movie and TV production. Malfoy Industries was run by THE Malfoys. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy were the owner and CEO of MI, and their It-Boy, bachelor son, Draco, was the poster child.  
Where WTC fought to encourage a child's imagination, learning, and fun, MI aimed for entertainment.  
The two richest, non-royal, families in England, had been competitors for generations. 

Now, back to “had” and “been” concerning Veronica Weasley.  
For a long time, Veronica had worked closely for her father, ever since she'd left Elementary actually. She was extremely bright and understood how things worked very quickly after being introduced to them. She was good at numbers and figures and, ever since she started working with her father, was well on her way to becoming a manager.  
But then, three days before her 21st birthday, she left. She took a bunch of money out of her bank account, packed a bunch of her belongings in her car, wrote a note, and left. The note didn't explain much of anything, just that she was leaving but she still loved them all, and it requested that they not come looking for her.  
Arthur took it the worst, he knew that Veronica had a very independent streak and just need her space to learn things, but he missed his oldest daughter very much. Molly was worried sick at first, but after some talking to from Bill and George, she calmed down.  
Soon, the news of Veronica Weasley's departure from Weasley Toy Company was spread all over. Rumors of foul play that Veronica just got fed up with, started circulating. The Malfoy's made a commercial about the wholeness and quality of their family that was obviously a jab at the Weasley's lost. Interviews were made with the Weasley family members, each of which insisted that they didn't know where or why Ron left (they were telling the truth about that) and begged Veronica to come back.  
She didn't.  
Eventually, the Weasley's moved on, releasing a brand new and exciting toy, and the rumors and gossiping slowed down to just the normal amount. Everything went back to normal except for an obvious hole that Veronica had once filled.  
Veronica watched all of this from the sidelines, in a crappy apartment in a no-questions-asked town. She'd thought it all out ahead of time and quickly got a job as a barista/dancer at a local club and a new phone. She was in good shape and she was pretty, so they hired her quickly. She liked her job, she kept in shape, got free drinks, and often got tips. She enjoyed being removed and free from the expectations of being a Weasley, so much that she shortened her first name to Ron as her flat mate and best friend, Harry, called her.  
Harry was a good bloke, a little goofy, nice, fairly smart, and not bad looking- he had black hair and these ridiculous round glasses that he only wore at home. He worked at the club, same as Ron, as a barman and he could mix some of the best drinks Ron ever had, he was practically magical.  
She gained another friend, a girl named Hermione Granger, who worked at a coffee shop/book store that Ron started frequenting after waking up with a pounding hangover one morning. Hermione had some wild brownish-red hair that she normally kept pulled out of her face for sanitation reasons.  
Except for anything she saw on the news, Ron was normally able to escape anything about her family. She was really feeling free, having got away from that world. She was convinced that she would never be sucked into that world again.  
Until the day he walked into the club when she was on shift. 

\----------------

Draco Malfoy rubbed his temple as his friends argued about where to go. He never knew why he ever agreed to go out with them. Pansy wanted to go to some high end club. Blaise wanted to go to a good ole' tavern that they frequented. Vincent wanted to go to a stripper bar. Greg just wanted to go back to Draco's penthouse for drinks. Draco just wanted them to make up their minds.  
In the end, Pansy won, she usually did when she was wearing her black and green mini-dress. Draco was wearing a black suit with a white shirt and a green tie- the whole piece cost thousands. The rest of the guys were dress slightly less formally, but still nice enough to tell that they were rich, or at least had rich friends.  
As they walked into the club, the bass thumped into Draco's chest, practically beating his heart for him. There were lots of nicely- and barely- dressed people all over the dance floor and bar area. Everybody went to the bar to order drinks.  
“I'll have a Firewhiskey,” he ordered from the raven-haired barman. The barman smiled and nodded.  
At that moment, the music changed to something more sultry and the lights around the stage went dark. All eyes turned to the stage and waited patiently.  
A single, golden light lit onto a girl in a mostly see-through black sheer dress with sequins on it. The girl had red hair and dark, sultry makeup. She started her dance, slow and seductive at first but slowly moving into rhythm with the song.  
Draco was thinking that he'd seen that girl before when the barman touched his arm.  
“Your drink mate.”  
“Thanks,” Draco said, absentmindedly taking a sip of the strong drink.  
As the beat sped up, Pansy pulled Greg out to the dance floor and most people started dancing again. But Draco was trying to remember where he'd seen that dancer before.  
Then it hit him like a truck.  
He'd only seen her once before, at a charity ball.  
Veronica Weasley.  
He almost choked when he realized the name. He knew, of course, that the second youngest Weasley had left the family business, but he never expected to find her dancing at a club.  
When the song was over, the dancer made the daring choice to go directly from the stage to the bar to get a drink. Draco had seen dancers get practically molested doing that.  
“Hey Harry, can I have a butterbeer?” she asked when she got to the bar. The barman smiled at her and went to fetch her drink. Draco turned to face her and studied her a bit more. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.  
“Can I help you?” she asked, strategically turning her body a bit more towards him, but playing with her nails as if she couldn't care less.  
“No probably not, Weasley,” Draco said nonchalantly. The red head froze and looked up to him.  
“Excuse me?”  
“Draco Malfoy,” Draco said sticking his hand out for her to shake. She hesitantly did. “I recognized you from that one time we both went to the same charity ball. Our fathers were trying to be civil to each other and introduced us. You're Veronica Weasley.” Veronica shrugged her shoulders.  
“So what?” she asked gruffly, “And I go by Ron, fuck you very much. What's it matter to you?”  
“Nothing what so ever,” Draco responded, “It's very admirable that you went to such length to distance yourself from your family's goody-two-shoes reputation. After all, nobody would suspect the admirable Veronica Weasley to be a fucking club dancer.” Veronica's face went slightly red.  
“It's Ron. And who would suspect that the Malfoy playboy comes to shitty clubs to get laid? Oh that's right, everybody,” she bit back.  
“Such harsh words Weasley,” Draco said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.  
“What brings the poster child for Malfoy Industries to this humble club anyway?” Veronica asked, eying Draco.  
“Pansy. She wanted to have fun tonight,” Draco answered, rolling his eyes, “I should have stayed home, I have a photo shoot tomorrow.” He sighed and rubbed his temples.  
“Pansy. Is that your current slut- I mean... girlfriend?” Ron asked, correcting herself as if she'd said that accidentally. Draco huffed and took a drink of his whiskey.  
“No. She a friend. I think she's currently after someone else.”  
“Ah, see I don't waste my time on any tabloid with your face on it, so I don't know these things,” Ron said shrugging. Harry set a beer in front of her.  
“Sorry Ron, got called by some others, and you know that I gotta take care of the paying costumers first.”  
“It's fine Harry, thanks.”  
“For the record, I don't read that tabloid shit about me either. That's my publicist's job,” Draco said. Ron laughed. Draco thought it was a wonderful laugh.  
“Well then I think that I have a better job,” she said mirthfully, “I don't have to read the gossip about today's It Boy if I don't want to, and I get to have fun.”  
“Is that why you left?” Draco asked, casually taking a sip of his drink. Miss Weasley was fascinating him, he wanted to learn more, “You weren't having fun?”  
“Well, while sitting behind as desk and going to meetings aren't exactly my definition of fun,” Ron admitted with a smile, “I can't say that was the reason. Why does it concern you?”  
“It doesn't. I just like knowing stuff,” Draco answered honestly.  
“I'm sure it wouldn't hurt MI if you knew why I left either, would it?” accused Ron half-bitterly as she took a sip of her beer.  
“Probably not, but I try to avoid doing anything but modeling and acting when it comes to the industry. It ruins my complexion,” Draco joked. Ron laughed out of half-surprise at Malfoy's kidding.  
“You know though,” he continued, “the tabloids would probably go nuts if they got a picture of the wild daughter of the Weasley family sharing a drink with the responsible son of the Malfoys.” Ron snorted.  
“Responsible my sequined ass,” she said, rolling her eyes playfully, “You have a playboy penthouse and are infamous for your one night stands.”  
Draco smirked at her, his eyes lit up with amusement.  
“And you say you don't read any of my tabloids.”

\----------------

The next day, Ron woke up with a hangover, even though she'd been getting better at building up her tolerance level. She remembered that she had to dance several times last night, and after each she would come and share a drink with Draco Malfoy and talk. Eventually though, they parted ways.  
All the same, Ron suspected that Draco had a new club to frequent.

Draco woke up and his first thought was about a sequined, black sheer dress and red hair. Which was surprising because with his history, he could pretty quickly forget a face. As he slowly pushed himself out of his huge bed he remembered that he had a photo shoot in- he looked at the clock- an hour. Quickly he went to take a shower, his mind on a certain female ex-Weasley. 

After his photo shoot, Draco decided to go out for coffee. His publicist had recently told him about a coffee shop/book store that had magically good lattes. So he followed her instructions to the location. It was a quaint shop, interestingly named The Cauldron. He stopped outside the door and inhaled the aroma of coffee.  
Inside everything looked inviting inside. Books covered the back wall with a few shelves creeping out and invading the cafe space, in the corner were some booths and couches.  
Draco moved up to the bar and ordered his drink. As he waited he looked around at the people. When his eyes reached the corner, he stopped and smiled. Veronica- or Ron as he was recently told it was- was there, doodling in a notebook, and nursing several cups of coffee. He grabbed his drink and picked a book off a shelf that looked interesting.  
“Can I join you Madame?”  
Ron looked up at him with a squint before smiling.  
“Ah, Malfoy, of course,” She said, nodding to the seat across from her.  
“Thank you,” he sat down and took a sip of his coffee, “Damn. This is good.”  
“It is,” Ron agreed, with a tired smile, “Best thing for a hangover.”  
“You got a hangover?” Draco asked, surprised.  
“I drank more than you and you've been drinking longer. You are 23 aren't you?”  
“That's true. How are you this morning Weasley?”  
“Eh, I'm fine now. But earlier I was miserable. And, oh god, I have to work again tonight,” Ron sank her head into her hands.  
“Looks like you need more coffee,” Draco said, he grabbed her empty cup and strode over to the bar, despite Ron's calls that it wasn't necessary.  
“I'd like a refill of this drink please,” he said handing the cup over to the poofy haired barista.  
“Ron's?” she asked incredulously.  
“Yes.”  
“Okay.....”  
“Thank you.... Hermione,” Draco said reading the name tag. The brunette rolled her eyes and got to work on the drink.  
“Here,” Hermione said handing it back to him with a suspicious look, “aren't you Draco Malfoy?”  
“Yes I am,” Draco said with a smile as he retrieved and payed for the drink and headed back to Ron.  
Sitting across from Ron, he gave her her drink and smiled at her. She rolled her eyes but accepted the drink anyway.  
He liked her like this. Her face was mostly clean of last night's makeup and her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail/bun thing, she was wearing an old sweatshirt that had paint on it, ripped jeans, and UGG boots. She looked much more human than he did in his tailored, charcoal grey Armani suit and emerald green tie.  
“You look nice,” she finally commented, looking at him as he read and sipped his coffee. He looked up at her and gave her one of his charming smiles.  
“Thank you. You look good as well,” he replied with an honest smile.  
“Nah, I look like shit.”  
“Of course you don't!” he exclaimed, “You do look nice. I would say you look prettier like this.”  
“But sexier in what I wore last night?” she asked with a smirk.  
“Perhaps. But sometimes its better to look pretty than sexy,” he answered. He was being honest, but his words half surprised himself.  
“Hmm you wouldn't know,” Ron mumbled before taking a sip. Her comment gave Draco a pause, he had trouble figuring out exactly what she meant by that. “What is that suit? Gucci?” she asked, it sounded almost like a sneer.  
“Armani,” he corrected quietly, looking down at his drink, he shifted self-conciously. He heard Ron hum and then go silent. He could feel her looking at him.  
“Oh. I used to have some Armani dresses. Some for parties, some for meetings, and some for everyday work,” she said lightly.  
“I can't imagine you in Armani for everyday work,” Draco commented with a small smile, fiddling with the pages of his book.  
“I had this one that was my favorite,” Ron said, it sounded like she was smiling, “It was a black, strapless jumpsuit that had a matching red suit jacket and ankle boots.”  
“I think I can almost picture you in that,” Draco said with a smile, finally looking back up into her eyes.  
“It was comfortable,” she said, looking out the window with a soft sigh.  
“Well that's always important.”  
“Yeah....”  
Draco went back to reading and Ron continued doodling.  
Suddenly Draco's phone started going off, interrupting the silence. He sighed and dug it out of his pocket.  
“Hello?” He asked irritatedly. The feminine voice on the other end rattled off something and Draco pinched the bridge of his nose.  
“Pansy, you know that I would love to come to your family dinner, but I can't..... No it's not because your mom's cooking is terrifying.... I know.... I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit.... No. I've got a date that evening,” Draco looked over at Ron who was watching him with interest, but she looked back down when he said he had a date, “Look Pansy, I know how you feel about your sisters boyfriend, but there's really not much I can do. As I said, I already have plans,” Draco covered the mouth piece for his phone and looked up as if looking to heaven, “Forgive me Greg,” he muttered before uncovering the phone again, “Hey, Greg likes your mom's cooking. You should ask him..... Okay, great! Have fun.... yeah, yeah, I'll call you some time. Bye.” He hung up and sighed, rubbing his temples. Finally he looked up at Ron.  
“Any plans for Sunday evening?” He asked. Ron was taken aback.  
“What?”  
“Sunday. Are you free that evening?”  
“Yeah.... I think so.”  
“Good because I told Pansy I had a date for Sunday evening, but I didn't actually. But she'll question me about it and she knows if I've been lying to her. So I need a date for Sunday.”  
“Yeah, I should be free.”  
“Good. Six seem fine to you?”  
“Yeah.”  
Silence.  
“So am I like, plan b or something?” Ron asked partially playfully. Draco stood up and grinned at her.  
“No, I was going to ask you out for sometime anyway,” he answered before walking to the cashier, buying the book and walking out the store. Ron watching him, mouth open in surprise, the whole way.


	2. First Date

Sunday Evening~  
Harry opened the door to find It Boy, bachelor, and playboy, Draco Malfoy, standing at the door way. He kind of stared a bit. But who could blame him? Harry was pretty certain that his sexuality was somewhere in the definitely hetero range and even HE would let Draco Malfoy do dirty things to him.   
“Hello,” Draco greeted, giving Harry what he hoped would be a friendly smile. Harry stared for a few more awkward seconds.  
“Hi,” Harry said simply.  
“Is Ron here?” Draco looked around Harry for his date. Harry didn’t move much.   
“Yeah.”  
Silence. Draco looked down at his feet, shuffled a bit, looked back up at Harry, and bit his lip. Harry silently cursed his sexuality. But a few years as a bartender teaches you to keep your face schooled.  
“Can I come in?” Draco finally asked, running his fingers though his titanium blonde hair.   
“Oh yeah, of course,” Harry said in a hurry, moving to the side to let Draco in.   
“Harry! Is he here?” Ron asked from somewhere in the apartment. She sounded….. excited?  
“Yeah!”  
“Okay. I'll be out in a bit!” She promised.  
Draco and Harry stood in the sitting room in awkward silence. Harry was thinking about how Draco's suit probably cost more than this whole flat, and Draco was hoping that he didn't over dress in comparison to whatever Ron decided to wear- he'd told her that they were going somewhere fancy, but he wasn't quite sure what her interpretation of fancy was.   
Then Ron walked out and both Draco and Harry's jaws dropped. She had her hair braided into some sort of updo that looked strangely like a flower, she was wearing her make up look mostly natural, she had on a sleeveless, satin, steel grey cocktail dress, and matching grey heels. She looked amazing.   
“I kept a few nice things,” She said with a smile as she moved a loose strand of hair out of her face almost shyly. A bit more shyly than what had to be honest (for a dancer at a nightclub anyway)  
“I'd say,” Draco muttered, still in partial shock.   
“You said fancy,” she shrugged her bare shoulders, as if she blaming him for looking fabulous.   
“I did and you look gorgeous,” Draco said honestly, “Shall we?” He offered her his arm and she took it gracefully.  
“See you later Harry,” she said giving her flat mate a kiss on the cheek.  
“Yeah, I won't wait up or anything,” he muttered, rolling his eyes and feeling under dressed in his sweatpants. Ron rolled her eyes at him. Draco just smiled kindly.  
“Later,” She called as they exited the flat. Draco led her to his shiny silver Lamborghini and opened the door for her. After she got in he closed the door and strode to the other side of the car. He heard a few clicks and turned to look over at the bushes. A camera lens was barely visible. He put his modeling smile on and waved before getting into the car.   
“Paps,” he muttered as he started up the car.   
He drove them to a really high end -capital E expensive- restaurant where he had reservations. As he handed the keys to his Lambo over to the attending valet, Draco explained to Ron that this place was really good at keeping the paparazzi away, which is why a lot of celebrities come here.   
When they were seated at their table, Draco ordered some Moet & Chandon Champagne.   
“Wow,” Ron said looking around a bit.  
“What?” Draco asked, confused. Ron looked over at him and smiled.  
“When you said fancy, I didn't think this fancy. Not, like, Moet & Chandon fancy,” Ron raised her eyebrows and made a vague gesture. Just then the waiter reappeared with their champagne.  
“I would say that I like to give my dates the best, but this isn't a normal date for me,” Draco said taking a sip of his champagne after the waiter left to give them more time.  
“Oh? Am I special, Malfoy?” Ron teased with some flirtatious bats of her eyelashes, she figured she might ask what a normal date for him looked like.  
“Well.... I dare say you are,” Draco replied, putting on a posh tone and mock posh face. She looked away for a moment with a small smile.  
“That's good to hear,” Ron smiled before looking back at him and taking a sip of her own champagne, “Mm, I forgot how good expensive champagne was.” She commented, forgetting asking about a normal date.  
“There are somethings about being in a rich family that have their benefits,” Draco said.  
“I'll drink to that,” Ron replied, raising her champagne flute. Draco raised his and tapped it lightly against hers.   
They had an amazing night and, at the end of it, Draco kissed Ron's hand and promised another like it. 

Before either knew it, they'd become a couple. Going out on dates, staying at Ron and Harry's apartment to watch movies, having coffee at The Cauldron together, and talking to each other on the phone at night. They never stayed at Draco's penthouse for long, as that was a place that the paparazzi automatically associated with sex. An activity that they had surprisingly yet to participate in together.   
Even more surprisingly- to Draco anyway- is that he had no desire to rush into sex at that point anyway. He found that sex was not as important to him as just spending some normal time with Ron. Dear God what was wrong with him.  
A few weeks went by and Hermione was already making Ron promise that she would let her be the bridesmaid.  
Over all it was going well for Ron. She'd only been featured in a few tabloids with Draco, since he'd become rather good at avoiding the paparazzi. So she had yet to be fully sucked into the world she had escaped.   
Until she saw a news report.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


	3. Chapter 3

_Over all it was going well for Ron. She'd only been featured in a few tabloids with Draco, since he'd become rather good at avoiding the paparazzi. So she had yet to be fully sucked into the world she had escaped._

_Until she saw a news report._

 

She and Draco were actually at his penthouse at the time, he had promised her that he'd cook for her. She was watching the news and sipping wine, dressed in a white knee length, long sleeve dress, when the report came on.

“A terrible crash on the North side left two injured and one dead today. The injured victims, George and Fred Weasley of the Weasley family, were in terrible condition,” Ron slowly put her wine glass down, in shock, “Fred Weasley was in very critical condition, they don't know yet whether he'll live, but it looks like his brother George will live. They've been air-lifted to a private hospital where their family waits for news. The cause of the accident is not clear but it looks like the dead victim's vehicle malfunctioned. We will keep you updated on the story as we learn more.” 

“Draco!” Ron cried, her voice breaking in that one word, jumping up from his lounge chair and hurrying towards the kitchen. 

“Yeah?” he asked. 

“I have to go,” she said, adrenaline now rushing through her veins.

“But dinner's just finished,” he said, confused. 

“No, my brothers were just in a crash. Fred and George. Fred's in critical condition, he may not live. I have to go to them,” she explained running around picking up some of her things, anxiety seeping into her thought process.

“Shit. That's horrible,” Draco said honestly, moving a few things around and setting some pans on the counter. Ron got her phone and quickly dialed Ginny's personal number, she had it memorized. The phone rang a few times before a crying Ginny answered.

“He-hello?”

“It's me Veronica, don't say my name out loud.”

“Oh my god,” Ginny breathed, sounding relieved.

“I just saw on the news. Are you with mum and dad?”

“Yeah.” 

“Go somewhere where you can talk more freely, I don't want them to know yet,” Ron said, panic and fear was rising in her. She could hear Ginny mumble something to her parents before leaving. 

“Veronica,” she breathed after a while.  
“Hey,” was all Ron could muster to reply.

“Oh my god. Please tell me you're coming. We need you here.”

“I'm coming, where are you?”

“Pomfrey Private Hospital. Out near Charlie's place.”

“Okay. I'll be there as soon as I can, please don't tell anybody yet. But make sure we can get up to you. How are they?”

“George lost an ear and a bunch of the surrounding skin, the surgeons say that he's lucky that it wasn't deep enough to cause brain damage. Fred..... Fred's very critical. They say that tonight is probably the most critical part, they told us to pray and call in anybody we thought could help. But we couldn't think of anyone we could get ahold of- oh my god. You. Fred loved you so much Veronica, you would help him a lot,” Ginny said rushing, excitement and terror obvious in her voice, now a bit of hope coming through. Ron bit her lip, tears biting at her eyes.

“We're coming, I promise. How's mum and dad holding up?” she asked with a choke.

“Mum's worried herself nearly to death, and Dad seems to be slightly non-responsive from shock. He's with George and mum is up in Fred's room,” Ginny said, “Wait. What do you mean 'We'?”

“Me and someone else,” Ron said looking over at Draco who was putting their suppers in containers to store them in. He smiled encouragingly at her and nodded that he was coming. 

“Okay.... I'm so glad to talk to you Ronny. I missed you so much,” Ginny sounded like she was probably crying.

“Yeah, I missed you too. Love you.”

“Love you. See you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye sis.”

“Bye.”

Ron hung up and smiled at Draco desperately.

“I'll drive,” he said grabbing his keys. Ron grabbed her yellow crop cut jacket and her purse. Draco grabbed his black and green jacket; together they left his penthouse. 

The drive to the hospital was quiet and tense, Draco held Ron's hand on the center console while he drove, but he didn't even turn on the music. It took most of the drive, but Ron composed herself. Holding on to Draco's hand tightly.

When the got into the hospital, Ron told a nurse who she was and the nurse asked her who she wanted to see first.

“Freddie- Fred Weasley- please,” she requested, trying to keep the composure she had finally achieved in the car.

The nurse nodded and led Ron and Draco up to the top floor.

When Ron knocked on the room door Charlie looked up and saw her first. His mouth dropped open and he stood up. He rushed over to her and enveloped her in a hug.

“Ronny,” He breathed as he hugged her. She could tell that he was starting to cry. She was too.

“Veronica?” Molly Weasley asked, she said it as if she were afraid that Ron wasn't real. 

“Hi Mum,” Ron said, tears in her own eyes as she released Charlie. Her mom drew her into a tight hug. 

“Oh my Veronica,” She sighed as she hugged her, “Oh I missed you. You had me worried sick when you left.” 

“I know mum. I'm sorry. I'm here now. I love you.”

“Oh my dear. I love you so much. I'm sorry, whatever we did that made you leave,” She said, pulling away from Ron and holding her at arms length, tears running down her cheek.

“Oh mum, it wasn't anything any of you guys did. I just needed space,” Ron said, she really was crying now. She rubbed under her eyes, knowing that her mascara was water-proof, but knowing she wouldn't even care if it wasn't.

“Why is Draco Malfoy with you?” Charlie questioned. This made Molly finally notice Draco's presence. 

“Hello,” Draco greeted solemnly, nodding to the Weasley family. 

“Um, mum, Charlie, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend,” Ron said, taking a step back and grabbing Draco's hand. Draco smiled at them nervously. This wasn't exactly how he'd wanted to meet her family. 

“You're dating a  _Malfoy_ ?” Charlie asked incredulously, then he frowned, “So the rumors were true.”

“Yeah.”

“Well....” Molly said slowly, Draco gave her another small smile, “at least you're back. There could be worse things. You could be pregnant. You aren't pregnant are you? Which if you are, that's fine, we can work through it.”

“No mum, I'm not pregnant. We haven't even had sex yet,” Ron said, rolling her eyes fondly, despite the tears rolling down her cheek. Draco's cheeks went red and he stared at his shuffling feet.

“Oh okay. Good. I mean if you did that's f-”

“Mum. How's Freddie?”

“Struggling,” Molly said, she sounded broken, a new wave of tears rolled down her cheek.

“Can I talk to him?” Ron asked, wiping away her mother's tears.

“Sure dear. Can't promise he'll respond, but the doctors say he can hear us. It will do him good to hear your voice,” Molly said, tears still on her cheek.

Ron nodded, bit her lip, and started walking to her brother's form on the bed, not letting go of Draco's hand.

She sat down on the chair by the bed and Draco sat on the arm, not letting go of her hand.

“Hey Freddie,” She said, she sounded like she was going to cry again, “it's me. Ronny. Yeah, I'm back. And I'll tell you what, I'll make you a deal okay? If you live, I'll stay. It'll be like old times. I'll test you and Georgie's toys and make scathing remarks that I don't really mean and we'll play pranks and everything. Just don't die and it can be yours,” she finished, trying to sound upbeat. By the time she'd stopped talking, she was crying again.

“Prms?” a gurgled mumble asked. Ron choked back a sob and clutched Fred's hand. 

“Oh my god, Fred,” Ron cried, a sob escaping her lips.

“Rnny,” Fred murmured. 

“Yeah, Freddie, it's me. Look, you just gotta last tonight okay? Just tonight, and then the next one, but for now, focus on making it through tonight. If you do, I promise that I'll stay forever,” Ron made rushed promises, sounding frantic.

“Freddie, it's mummy,” Molly said grabbing Fred's other hand.

“Mm, whrs Grge?” Fred asked, trying to open the eye that wasn't covered by the bandages wrapping around his head, “'S he 'kay?”

“Yes yes, your brother is fine, he's alive, he's on a different floor, he'll live, he's fine.”

“M'kay, gooo, I doh 'anna be wihou Gerge,” Fred said, satisfied. Molly choked back a sob at her sons broken words. Charlie bit his lip and looked away from the bed, tears in his eyes. Ron's tears streamed down her face as she held her brother's hand, simultaneously squeezing the life out of Draco's. Even Draco felt tears stinging his eyes.

Fred fell back asleep and Molly allowed herself to sob at his bedside. Ron released Fred's hand, turned, and cried into Draco's shoulder. Draco rubbed her back soothingly.

“You should go see George,” Charlie finally said, voice strained.

Ron nodded and pulled away from Draco. She quickly entered the hospital room bathroom and cleaned up her face a bit more. Draco was thankful that he had still been wearing his black and green jacket, so you couldn't tell that there was a patch of wet on it.

“Draco?” Ron said, her face asking the question as she walked out of the bathroom.

“Yeah,” Draco said, getting up and following her out the door towards the elevator. The nurse had given her a piece of paper with George's room number on it.

Draco grabbed her hand as they walked toward the elevator to find George's room. Ron whispered a silent prayer to the God she was pretty sure she didn't believe in.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's been a while since I updated..... now for some angst! And some fluffy Draco!

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Harry Potter. Love you all. Please enjoy and review.


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